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From the start of the debate, City Comptroller Bill Thompson was on the defensive. He was asked to explain a news report on the poor performance of the city's pension funds on his watch, and the acceptance of campaign contributions from money managers with business before him.

"Campaign contributions do not influence any investment in my office. There is no pay to play," Thompson said.

Thompson's opponent in the primary, City Councilman Tony Avella, wouldn't let that one go. With the primary less than a week away, the underdog candidate showed an increased willingness to take on the frontrunner.

"I think this is a huge scandal and it calls into question how he would operate as mayor. And it's not just the pension scandal. It's a history of mismanagement," Avella said.

That history of so-called mismanagement, Avella says, extends back to Thompson's time as president of the now-defunct Board of Education. Thompson said he was proud of his work on the board and said it paved the way for mayoral control of the city's schools.

"Yeah, it led to mayoral control because you did such a terrible job," Avella argued.

The candidates sparred over the makeup of the city's rent guidelines board, which regulates rents for rent-stabilized apartments.

Avella promised to eliminate the board while Thompson pledged to install more pro-tenant members.

But Avella kept taking swings at Thompson.

"My opponent, if he were to get elected. He's taking huge amounts of money from the real estate industry. Nothing is going to change," Avella said.

Thompson, on the other hand, tried to focus on the candidate for mayor not on stage -- Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

"If there is a candidate of the big developers in the City of New York and the real estate industry, it's Mike Bloomberg," Thompson said.

Democratic voters will decide which of the candidates will face the mayor in a general election when they go to the polls on Tuesday.